People who inform on benefit cheats could be given a share of the resulting savings to the state under proposals being examined by Labour's manifesto team.

The idea has been put to Ed Miliband, Labour's manifesto co-ordinator, by Jim Murphy, the Scottish secretary, as a way of making life harder for benefit cheats.

It has also been discussed by Downing Street as it looks at ways to bolster its Respect agenda, designed to persuade sceptics that the state is on the side of hard-working families.

Although some will see the proposals as wildly impractical or socially ­divisive, others say they will encourage white, working-class voters to stay loyal to Labour.

No 10 is said to be attracted to the idea as symbolic of a tough contract on fairness in which Labour offers support for those genuinely in need on the condition that they play by the rules.

In Labour's successful byelection campaigns in Glenrothes and Glasgow North-East, Murphy was struck by how much Labour voters wanted to hear a message that emphasises "firm but fair rules".

One Glasgow resident told Murphy he was fed up with going to work at eight in the morning knowing the man in the flat above was not – but would still be keeping him awake at two in the morning.

Murphy believes there is a large constituency that would like to see the government reward those who give tipoffs about cheats, pointing out that the proposal is designed to end antisocial behaviour that increases the taxes other people pay.

In Australia, billboards urge people to "dob" on their cheating mates, leading to an upsurge in tipoffs.

The government already has benefit hotlines where suspected cheats can be shopped, but this is the first time a minister has suggested that anyone who reveals a benefit cheat might secure a proportion of the money recovered, or that there should be a financial incentive. Critics claim it would lead to malicious accusations and difficulties in deciding whether the person that revealed the cheat was responsible for a benefit cheat being caught.

The government's free and confidential benefit hotline started gathering systematic information only in 2007-08. The lines are open 7am until 11pm, seven days a week.

Last year, the Department for Work and Pensions claimed to have caught 56,493 benefit thieves.

It claims more than 677 calls a day were made to the hotline and a further 476 benefit thieves reported online every day.

Some critics have claimed that the hotlines reduced social cohesion and made innocent citizens the victims of deranged neighbours determined to cause misery.

Every £1bn of fraud and error is estimated to cost £35 for every taxpayer.

The DWP claimed to have cut the cost of fraud, as opposed to error, from £2bn to £1bn a year, but subsequently the department appeared to recognise that its sample size was so small that the figures might not be reliable.

Murphy's tough approach is in part credited with Labour leading the SNP in Holyrood polling for the first time since Alex Salmond became first minister.

Labour has also stretched its lead in Scotland's Westminster seats to 16 points, according to a poll commissioned by the Glasgow Herald.

Since an identical poll in October, there has been a sharp change in voting intentions for the Scottish parliament. Labour has gone from trailing the SNP by eight points on constituency and regional list votes, to a lead of two and seven points respectively.

Compared with October, the latest poll shows Labour in Scotland's Westminster seats up three points to 42%. The SNP was up one point to 26%, compared with an 18% share in 2005. The Conservatives are unchanged on 18%.